Letter of the Day: July 12 - Pompeii

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 9748

War Department,
Office of the Surgeon General,
Army Medical Museum and Library,
Washington,
July 12, 1906

The Kny-Scheerer Co.,
225-233 Fourth Avenue,
New York City.

Gentlemen,

Referring to your letter of the 6th instant, please furnish to the Army Medical Museum the collection of thirty-seven imitation surgical instruments from the Ruins of Pompei (sic, Pompeii), enumerated in your letters of June 12 and 16 and July 6, 1906, as follows:

Speculum
Scissors
Trocar & canula
Cautery iron
Lancets
Dilator
The crochet or obstetric forceps
Colpeurynter
Spatula
Pair of pincers
2 bladed vaginal specula, with wide handle bars
Craniotomy forceps
Surgical forceps
Tongue depressor
Vaginal depressor
Curette
Pincers
Elevator
Female catheter
Drainage canula
Conical catheter, female
Hook retractor, large
Hook retractor, small
Pair of pincers, with button end
Pair of pincers, flat end
Abolition hook
Spoon curette & spatula
Specula & probe
Round spoon on metal handle
Probe & spoon
Probe pointed sound
Spatula & probe
Spatula & sound
Spatula & sound, smaller size
Spatula, small
Probe & curette

You state in your letter of June 16th, “It is possible that we may be able to offer these duty free to the Museum, in which case a reduction of fully 18% can be made upon the prices stated”; it is assumed therefore, that the price quoted in your letter of July 6, 1906 ($220.00) includes the import duty, and as articles for Government use are admitted duty free, you will please render bill accordingly.

Kindly notify this office of the arrival of the instruments so that an application can be made for their free admission at the Custom House, New York, N.Y.

Very respectfully,
V. Havard
Col., Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge, Museum & Library Div.

Museo Storico Nazionale Dell Arte Sanitaria (I think this means something along the lines of Medical Museum), in Rome

A couple of years ago, when the dollar was still showing signs of life against the euro, my husband and I took a trip to Italy. While we were in Rome, we made a quick visit to the Museo Storico Nazionale Dell Arte Sanitaria. Being an American and therefore not speaking/reading/writing any language other than English made for an interesting visit in that in many cases I couldn't quite decipher the labels on the exhibits and to do a significant amount of guessing. Here's one I just didn't get at all, no matter the amount of puzzling over the label I did. My husband's take: a labor-inducing machine for those recalcitrant babies who don't want to ease on out on their own.